Brit West, left, and Megan Van De Hey in the Arvada Center’s ‘Sister Act,’ playing through Oct. 2. P. Switzer Photography.

The DCPA NewsCenter regularly profiles actors performing in theatre productions throughout the state of Colorado.

MEET MEGAN VAN DE HEY

Mother Superior in the Arvada Center’s Sister Act.

• Hometown: Detroit
• Home now: Denver
• High school: Greeley Central
• College: University of Northern Colorado
• What have you done lately? Mama Rose in Gypsy for the Little Theatre of the Rockies in Greeley
• Sister Act sounds a bit like the sequel to Gypsy. No, it’s the stage adaptation of the 1992 movie with Whoopi Goldberg. It’s about a sassy, loud-mouthed lounge singer named Deloris who is forced to hide out from her murdering boyfriend in a local convent until she can testify against him. While at the convent, she is enlisted to help with the tone-deaf choir and reinvents their sound. But when the choir starts getting the media attention she has always craved, it endangers the very people who have protected her.
• Tell us about your character: Mother Superior is rooted in the traditions of the church and threatened by a new, modern approach to the choir and the changes it is stirring in her fellow sisters. She feels she has lost control of all that she’s held dear for years.

• Most challenging aspect for you as an actor: Mother Superior has been a challenge for me physically because of her slow and steady nature. I tend to have a fast, frenetic energy, so slowing my natural pace and movement takes constant concentration. Mother Superior is very serious and dry, but she never plays for the humor. She is the strait woman among quite a few more colorful characters. There is something very lonely about this track because she is the last to succumb to the fun Deloris represents.
• What do you love most about this show? This is a high-energy, family friendly, sweet show filled with fantastic music that truly brings an audience to their feet. The characters are colorful and everyone will find someone to identify with. I have not found a single audience that can’t be won over by the end. The audience response at the end is as close to a rock-star feeling as most of us will ever have.
• What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? I am a huge fan of any and all sports underdog movies. I own most and can hum the theme songs. I even named my dog after one of my favorites, Rocky Balboa!  
• What’s one thing you want to get off your chest? The ensemble actors are the unsung heroes of every show. I love to sit offstage and watch and listen to the talent and dedication of so many. They are given little character background information, or character arc. And most of them have to create not just one but typically two or three characters within any given show. They work their butts off and are given few kudos thanking them for their endless hard work.
• What’s next? I’ll be playing Louise Bright in the regional premiere of I’ll Be Home For Christmas, written by David Nehls and Ken McLaughlin, opening Nov. 18 at the Arvada Center
  

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Arvada Center’s Sister Act: Ticket information
• Directed by Rod A. Lansberry
• Through Oct. 2
• 6901 Wadsworth Blvd.
• Performances: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 1 p.m. Wednesdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
• Tickets start at $53
• 719-255-3232 or BUY ONLINE

Cast list:
Brit West: Deloris Van Cartier
Keith L. Hatten: Curtis Jackson
Aaron Fried: Joey
Anthony Alfaro: Pablo
Napoleon M. Douglas: TJ
David Kaverman: Eddie Souther
Megan Van De Hey: Mother Superior
Stephen Day: Monsignor O’Hara
Emma Martin: Mary Robert
Sharon Kay White: Mary Patrick
Kitty Skillman Hilsabeck: Mary Lazarus

Piper Lindsay Arpan: Ensemble/Waitress
Rob Costigan: Ensemble/Ernie
Reace Daniel: Ensemble, Cab Driver, Drag Queen
Maggie Davenport: Ensemble/Nun
Brian Jackson: Ensemble/Swing, Altar Boy 2
Chanel Karimkhani: Ensemble/Nun
Heather Lacy: Ensemble, Mary Theresa
Norrell Moore: Ensemble, Michelle
Sarah Rex: Ensemble/ Mary Martin
Benjamin Roeling: Ensemble, Altar Boy 1
Mark Rubald: Ensemble/Cop
Maggie Tisdale: Ensemble/Nun
Krisangela Washington: Ensemble, Tina

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